Within two weeks of leaving office, First Selectman Bob Koskelowski is going to owe the town the not-so-staggering sum of $45.
That is the cost per quarter to continue his life insurance benefits as a member under the town’s group policy. Should he die before the third month of a quarter, the town will refund the unused portion of the $15 per month fee to his or her family.
“I still have a few days left,” joked Koskelowski as the Board of Selectmen drafted the policy last week.
The option to extend benefits must be exercised within two weeks of leaving office and payments will be required in advance for each quarter.
A recommendation put forth by Kurt Miller limits the amount of coverage to no more than what the First Selectman held while in office. Koskelowski’s life was insured for $109,000 while sitting as acting First Selectman.
However, Koskelowski has opted for a lower, $50,000 level of insurance for which he will pay as a part of the town plan $15 a month. When he turns 70, that benefit amount will be reduces by as much as half while his premium is unlikely to change.
“I don’t think we should cap it at $50,000. This is a policy that will be moving forward,” said Miller. A few jokes were tossed Miller’s way, as his family runs the Miller-Ward Funeral Home.
Koskelowski came to the meeting armed with records and lists of retired town employees receiving medical and other benefits through the town. He had met with criticism for seeking the benefit, most vocally from Board of Finance member Michele Pavlik.
Koskelowski noted that right now Seymour insures 40 retired employees.
“Instead of 40 it would be 41,” he said to the board. “A lot of them are old people that retired many years ago.”
If Koskelowski, or any other future First Selectman, fails to make a quarterly payment by the 15th of the month before the covered period he will have to pay an additional $10 to handle the late notice mailing. If he hasn’t paid up by the beginning of the quarter, his coverage would be suspended.
Pavlik commended the board for drafting a policy and addressing concerns she had raised. Pavlik had previously been unaware that benefits had been offered to other town employees and expressed opposition to the notion of extending a benefit to the First Selectman. She did say she would like to see a benefit option opened to more employees but was all-in-all pleased with the policy draft.
Pavlik focused much of her concern on potential administrative costs to the town. The late fee addressed a portion of it. A memo to the Board of Selectmen solved another portion of the disgruntlement by noting that the town would still be sending only one check out to the insurance company for the entire town policy each month, further mitigating any potential administrative costs.
Deputy First Selectman John Conroy Jr. noted that at no time in the last few weeks had the board considered extending any benefit other than life insurance. Nor had they considered widening the scope beyond the First Selectman.
Conroy compared the First Selectman position to the chief executive officer or a corporation. Commonly, when a CEO departs his or her position a benefits package is provided. Not so in the case of Seymour.
“Here in this town our CEO really has no benefits when they leave,” said Conroy.
Koskelowski has argued since first requesting the extension that he is not asking for something beyond the scope of what has been offered to other town employees in the past. To that end, as many of the 40 retirees on his list are receiving medical benefits he argued that the life insurance benefit is less of a potential danger to the town. A life insurance benefit is paid only once and governed by age brackets and tiers and not subject to the same formulas that cause medical insurance claims to drive up premiums.
The board voted unanimously to the terms. Koskelowski and First Selectman-elect Paul Roy disqualified themselves from the vote.
